Co-Founder Of Citizens Group Announces Candidacy for Rockwood School Board

Eileen Tyrrell, co-founder of the citizens group Rockwood Stakeholders for Real Solutions, announced her candidacy for the Rockwood School District’s school board this morning.

“Our key goal is accountability on all levels though the district, transparency of the business transactions,” Tyrrell said. “The other goal that I’m going to bring is let’s give the classroom back to the teacher, the parent and to the student.”

As a board member, Tyrrell said she would also work to ensure that district decisions can be effectively implemented in the classroom.

“I believe that it is time that we have a citizen representative who is not afraid to ask the tough questions, and who has spent three years leading a coalition of parents, and teachers and taxpayers who feel they have no input,” Tyrrell said. “I believe that I’m that person.”

Questions raised by Rockwood Stakeholders for Real Solutions led state Auditor Tom Schweich to review the district's business dealings. In February, Schweich released his findings and gave the district a “fair” rating. Among the findings were that the district had overpaid a construction company $1.2 million. In a follow up report on Aug. 7, Schweich said the district had made progress toward implementing the proposed changes listed in his initial report.

“It’s not that often that I get to deliver a good news story," Schweich said during a press conference on Aug. 7. “It’s not that often people are interested in a good news story, but I will tell you the people in Rockwood should be very pleased with the enthusiasm they had for implementing these recommendations that was then matched by a very well-organized process for implementing them."